A lack of discipline would prove to be an early turning point, as Colorado attack James Blackburn opened the scoring with a man-up goal on a 1:00 minute non-releasable unsportsmanlike penalty by SFU. CU freshman Doug Lilburne made the score 2-0 before Blackburn scored his second of the game to give the Buffaloes an early three goal lead. With both teams coming off upset losses the game prior, the early success on the scoreboard seemed to quickly reestablish CU’s confidence under first-year Coach Pete Stevenson, while a fraught combination of hesitant and forced play began to compound difficulties for the Clan. SFU freshmen Eric Ransom scored with the man advantage to ignite the Clan offense and put Fraser on the board at a score of 3-1. With SFU now working hard to gain momentum and turn the game in their favor, Lilburne scored his second of the game to dampen the Clan efforts and give the Buffaloes a 4-1 lead at the end of the opening frame.

A CU flag to end the first quarter would see Simon Fraser start the second period with possession on the man-up. Looking to cut the Colorado lead to two, a Clan turnover would instead lead to an unsettled offensive opportunity for the Buffaloes. With CU able to clear the ball off of a SFU breakdown in transition, Blackburn would again make Fraser pay for their mistakes, scoring on the man-down to complete the early hat trick. With the Colorado lead now at four, Buffalo midfield Ryan Haines trickled a shot by Clan goaltender Dean Stewart (Duncan, BC / Claremont Secondary) to make the score 6-1. Looking to stop the CU assault, SFU replaced Stewart following Colorado’s sixth goal with senior goaltender Mike Ripley (Saskatoon, SK / E.D. Feehan High School). It would not take the Buffaloes long to get back on the scoreboard, as another lapse in the Fraser ride led to Blackburn’s fourth of the game as the CU attackman broke the Clan’s defensive coverage to receive a long clearing pass and blast a high shot past Ripley to extend the Buffalo lead to six. Lilburne would continue to add to the damage with his third goal of the game before Foss was finally able to snap Colorado’s five-goal-run at a score of 7-2. Blackburn would end the half with his fifth goal of the game to cap off a dominating first half performance by the Buffaloes and a halftime score of 9-2.

SFU entered the second half with optimism and were confident that a return to their high powered offense could chip away at the Colorado lead. Unfortunately for the Clan, CU quickly diminished any chances of a comeback as a 7-2 third quarter made the score 16-4 and extended the Buffalo lead to twelve heading into the fourth quarter.

With most of Colorado’s starters now out, SFU would out score the Buffaloes 4-1 to start the fourth quarter before both teams worked down their benches to run out the remaining minutes and land at a final score of 17-7.

– Fraser rotated in all 3 goalies in the loss. In the order that they appeared, junior Stewart played 22:00 minutes, making 2 saves with 6 goals against; senior Ripley played 33:00 minutes, making 6 saves with 11 goals against; freshman Middleton played 5:00 minutes, making 1 save with no goals against.

On Colorado: “I think that Colorado was vulnerable to start the game but too many mistakes and a lack of discipline on our part allowed them to capitalize early on and build some important confidence. Even though this is Coach Stevenson’s first year as a head coach in the MCLA, we have a lot of respect for his ability and knew that he would have the Buffaloes playing tough if we left the door open. We opened the door and to be honest CU kicked it down. They are very talented at both attack and close defense and we need to do a better of job of winning the battles in between the restraining lines in order to be successful and fight back from adversity.”

SFU Co-Head Coach Jeff Cathrea

On Simon Fraser: “We have a talented group but once again our execution needed to be better. As a team, we have the experience to know what it takes to be successful against elite teams. We have some work to do but are confident that a little adversity will continue to make us stronger as we work through our schedule.”

ABOUT SIMON FRASER MEN’S LACROSSE

Simon Fraser University men’s lacrosse is in its 15th season and competes in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). During the 2010 season, 2008 and 2009 PNCLL Coaches of the Year, Jeff Cathrea and Brent Hoskins (6th season), look to lead the Clan into the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) Final Four Conference Championships for the 13th time in team history. The team has captured eight Conference Titles (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2008 and 2009) and has earned nine National Championship appearances, placing 2nd in 1999 and most recently reaching the 2008 and 2009 MCLA Quarterfinals. The Clan are proudly sponsored by Harrow Sports and Riddell Helmets.